[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 17



CANADA:

Mass murder and capital punishment



Recent mass shootings in the United States have tended to confirm Canadians' 
sense that such events can't happen here. Similar events in Canada are not 
numerous, but those that have occurred are not well known. In particular, the 
biggest mass murder in Canada before Air India is almost unknown outside 
Quebec, where it occurred in 1949. It also involved an attack involving an 
airplane, but the murderer was motivated by misguided love rather than 
politics.

3 people hanged as a result of the 23 deaths that ensued, and one might have 
thought that their crime would have legitimated the death penalty for a long 
time. Yet, less than a decade after the last of these three went to the gallows 
in 1953, Canada saw its last state executions. Why?

Joseph-Albert Guay had a jewelry business in Quebec City and he also serviced 
the north shore of the St. Lawrence as far as Baie-Comeau. His marriage to Rita 
Morel was unhappy, and he began an affair with a teenaged waitress, Marie-Ange 
Robitaille. Divorce being almost impossible in Quebec at the time, Guay 
resolved to murder his wife in order to marry Robitaille.

His plan combined elements of great cunning with extreme naivete, such as his 
purchase of a $10,000 insurance policy on the very day of his wife's murder. 
Guay arranged for his wife to fly to Baie-Comeau via Canadian Pacific Air Lines 
on Sept. 9, 1949, on a pretext connected to his business. He then persuaded a 
watchmaker friend, Genereux Ruest, to make a bomb out of dynamite, batteries 
and an alarm clock. Ruest's sister, Marguerite Ruest-Pitre, who had helped 
facilitate Guay's affair with Robitaille, purchased the dynamite. She then 
delivered the package with the bomb to the airport at the last minute, as a 
parcel needing delivery to Baie-Comeau.

Guay had planned for the bomb to go off when the plane was over the Saint 
Lawrence River. Given the river's depth and the state of forensic science at 
the time, it would not have been possible to reconstruct the events leading up 
to the crash. A 5-minute delay in departure ruined these calculations. The bomb 
went off as scheduled, killing the 4 crew members and all 19 passengers, 
including Guay's wife, but while the plane was over land, not water. 
Investigators quickly determined the true cause of the crash. Guay's attempt to 
cash in the insurance policy three days after the disaster naturally aroused 
suspicion and, within 2 weeks, he was arrested.

There was little doubt that Guay would hang for the murders, and he was 
executed in January 1951. Ruest and Pitre were charged as accomplices; both 
protested that they had been misled by Guay, but juries did not believe them. 
Ruest was hanged in July 1952 and his sister in January 1953. Pitre had the 
distinction of being the last woman hanged in Canada.

Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent and his cabinet could commute death sentences 
to life imprisonment, but they did not do so frequently. On average, only 36 % 
of all death sentences were commuted while St-Laurent was in office, leaving 
some 80 persons to die on the gallows between 1948 and 1957. The big change 
came with Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, a criminal defence lawyer who had 
seen the capital punishment process up close and did not like it. Commutations 
shot up to 79 % while he was prime minister. Only 14 persons were hanged on his 
watch (1957-63), including the last 2 people executed in Canada.

Why did Guay's crime have so little impact on the fate of capital punishment? 
The notorious Coffin case provides part of the answer. In July 1953, the bodies 
of 3 American hunters were found in the woods of the Gaspe. Local resident 
Wilbert Coffin was found to have some items of theirs in his possession. His 
murder conviction, based on circumstantial evidence, was upheld on appeal, and 
the Supreme Court denied special leave to appeal. Amid public suspicion that 
Coffin had been railroaded due to American pressure to find a culprit, the 
cabinet reluctantly agreed to refer the matter to the Supreme Court. 5 judges 
said they would have confirmed the conviction, while 2 would have ordered a new 
trial. St-Laurent's cabinet did not interfere and Coffin was hanged in February 
1956.

Concerns about Coffin's possible innocence re-energized the abolition movement 
in Canada, pushing the recent Guay murders into the background, as did the 
death sentence given to 14-year-old Steven Truscott after his controversial 
conviction for the murder of Lynne Harper in 1959, even though it was commuted 
in 1960. Guay's final words, accurate at the time, turned out not to be 
prophetic - "Au moins, je meurs celebre," translated to "At least, I die 
famous."

(source: Philip Girard is a legal historian and professor at Osgoode Hall Law 
School. He is also associate editor at the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal 
History----lawtimesnew.com)








IRAN:

Man Sentenced to Death in Iran Denies He Sold Porn Channel Subscriptions



A man who sold Iranians access cards for satellite television has been 
sentenced to death for "corruption on earth" the Center for Human Rights in 
Iran (CHRI) has learned.

In his verdict issued July 12, 2018, Judge Pour-Rezaei (1st name unknown) of 
Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Isfahan, central Iran, accused Mohammad 
Hossein Maleki of selling access cards that included pornographic channels - a 
charge Maleki has denied.

The 47-year-old administrator of the Asre Javan website, Maleki, also known as 
"Arian," sold cards for the CCcam website, which claims to offer digital access 
to more than 6,000 television channels around the world for 10 euros per month.

"Arian agreed that he was in the electronics business to set up websites to 
sell satellite equipment and get subscribers for satellite channels via the 
internet with the intention to access sports show, films, and documentaries, 
but rejected selling porn channels," said one of his associates in an interview 
with CHRI on July 13.

Satellite TV is banned in Iran but millions of people watch it at home with 
equipment and access cards widely available on the black market.

"For years I was his manager at Asre Iran selling CCcam accounts, which is a 
common business in Iran involving a lot of people. If his punishment is the 
death penalty, that means hundreds of people should be hanged," added the 
associate who asked not to be identified for security purposes.

"The authorities don't have anything against him. They couldn't even get a 
confession out of him," the source told CHRI. "But it was a mistake not to 
publicize his case until he was sentenced some 16 months later. We all made a 
mistake."

Maleki was arrested on March 1, 2017, but his family chose not to inform the 
media.

Married with 2 children, Maleki is being held at Isfahan's Dastgerd Prison.

In September 2010, a Revolutionary Court sentenced Iranian-born Canadian 
permanent resident Saeed Malekpour to death for allegedly creating an online 
pornographic network but the sentence was ultimately commuted from death to 
life imprisonment in August 2013.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

*******************

WMA condemns complicity of doctors in Iranian executions



The complicity of state-affiliated doctors in Iran in facilitating the 
execution of young prisoners in the country has been condemned by the World 
Medical Association.

This follows the execution last month of 19-year-old Abolfazl Chezani Sharahi 
who was sentenced to death in 2014. The WMA says his sentence was issued based 
on an official medical opinion by the Legal Medicine Organisation in Iran, 
stating that he was mentally "mature" at the age of 14 when the crime of which 
he was convicted took place.

In a letter jointly addressed to the Office of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah 
Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, to President Hassan Rouhani and to the Head of the 
judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the WMA President Dr Yoshitake Yokokura 
and WMA Chair Dr Ardis Hoven say this involvement of physicians is in direct 
violation of international law and their duties as physicians, and is both 
unethical and illegal.

The WMA leaders write: "Further, physicians have a clear duty to avoid any 
involvement in torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, 
including the death penalty. This is specified in the World Medical 
Association's policies and the International Code of Medical Ethics. Doctors 
who provide 'maturity' assessments that are then used by courts to issue death 
sentences, as do physicians affiliated with the Legal Medicine Organisation, 
are facilitating the execution of individuals."

In their letter, the WMA leaders say that according to Amnesty International, 
Abolfazl Chezani Sharahi was the fourth individual since the beginning of 2018 
to be executed after being convicted of crime committed when under the age of 
18, and that there are at least 85 other juvenile offenders who currently 
remain on death row based on medical maturity assessments.

"Iran has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which absolutely 
prohibits the use of the death penalty against people who were below the age of 
18 at the time of the crime they are convicted of committing. We urge Iran's 
authorities to amend the Islamic Penal Code so as to comply with international 
human rights laws by abolishing the use of the death penalty for crimes 
committed by people below the age of 18 in all circumstances.

"Further, physicians have a clear duty to avoid any involvement in torture and 
other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, including the death penalty." The 
letter concludes: "The World Medical Association calls for Iranian authorities 
to acknowledge a physician's duty to do no harm and to guarantee that 
physicians are complying with the fundamental principles of medical ethics by 
prohibiting physician involvement in sentencing individuals to the death 
penalty or in the preparation, facilitation, or participation in executions."

In a further letter to Dr Iradj Fazel, President of the Iranian Medical 
Council, the WMA calls on the Council to publicly acknowledge a physician's 
duty to do no harm and to condemn firmly the medical maturity assessments 
provided by the Legal Medicine Organisation.

"The World Medical Association urges the Iranian Medical Council to speak out 
in support of the fundamental principles of medical ethics, and to investigate 
and sanction any breach of these principles by association members."

* World Medical Association https://www.wma.net/

(source: ekklesia.co.uk)








KUWAIT:

Kuwaiti national sentenced to death in murder case



A Kuwaiti national was sentenced to death for killing a stateless man in broad 
daylight.

The Criminal Court convicted the defendant of premeditated murder and sentenced 
him to capital punishment by hanging, reported Al Anba.

The police had identified the killer and then arrested him 9 days after the 
murder.

They first searched his car, which was parked in the neighbourhood of 
Al-Ferdaous and found the firearm which was used in the murder.

They then caught him in the neighbourhood of Al-Salmi as he was hiding in a 
camping.

(source: gdnonline.com)








BANGLADESH:

4 Moulvibazar war criminals get death penalty



The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 has sentenced 4 war criminals of 
Moulvibazar to death in a case filed for committing crimes during the 
Liberation War in 1971.

The 3-member tribunal led by Justice Md Shahinur Islam on Tuesday passed the 
order.

(source: theindependentbd.com)








VIETNAM:

Farmer's death sentence sparks public outcry in Vietnam----Lawyer says 
president must grant amnesty or expect more unrest as man acted in self-defense 
amid illegal, violent land grab



Activists and religious followers have asked the Vietnamese government to 
respect private property ownership after several farmers received severe 
sentences including the death penalty.

On July 12, the High-level People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the death 
penalty on Dang Van Hien, a farmer who was found guilty of murder amid land 
disputes between farmers and a private company.

Hien was convicted of shooting to death t3 men and injuring 13 others from the 
Long Son Trade and Investment Company.

The higher court reduced the sentences of 2 other farmers - Ninh Viet Binh and 
Ha Van Truong - from 20 years to 18 years and from 12 years to 9 years 
respectively.

The state-run Tuoitre newspaper reported that at court the 3 defendants from 
Dak Nong province's Tuy Duc district pleaded guilty to murder but said they 
were driven to the brink by the company's workers.

The newspaper said that in 2008 the province gave the company over 1,000 
hectares of forestland in the Quang Truc commune to carry out an agriculture 
and forestry project.

Land disputes are the main source of protests in 1-party communist Vietnam, 
where dissent is rarely tolerated. State-run media report that up to 70 % of 
people's complaints nationwide relate to squabbles over land.

Conflicts between local farmers, including the defendants, and the company grew 
after the latter bulldozed people's farms to grab land. It also allegedly 
refused to pay them any compensation and used gangsters to threaten people.

Farmers petitioned local authorities to deal with their cases for years but say 
they did not receive any real help.

On Oct. 23, 2016, the company is said to have sent scores of workers and 
watchmen armed with knives, shields and tractors to destroy coffee trees, 
cashew trees and more crops grown by Hien and other farmers.

Hien claims he fired a warning shot into the air to stop them from entering his 
farm but the watchmen responded by throwing rocks at him. He said he then hid 
in his house and fired more shots at his attackers.

Ninh and Binh also shot at the alleged trespassers. The 3 defendants killed 3 
men and injured 13 people.

Nguyen Van Quynh, the lawyer who defended Hien at court, said his client's 
sentence was unusually severe and that the judges should not have convicted him 
of brazen murder given the mitigating circumstances and that he was acting in 
self-defense.

After the trial, hundreds of people rallied against the verdict.

"The sentence imposed on Hien is a defamation of justice and is being used to 
serve the government's political aims," a coalition of 30 religious, human 
rights and civil society groups said in a statement signed by 120 people.

They accused the judges of not properly reviewing the facts of the case. 
Furthermore, they failed to take into account that Hien voluntarily 
surrendered, which normally results in a reduced sentence, they added.

"We demand the government investigate who granted this private company the 
right to illegally grab people's farmland. But so far nothing has been done," 
they said.

Father Anthony Le Ngoc Thanh, a rights advocate, described the imposition of 
the death penalty as an "inhumane policy," adding Vietnamese law does not 
properly protect people's private land ownership rights.

"Such unjust sentences and rampant corruption will only end when civilians' 
private property ownership rights are recognized," Father Thanh said.

On July 13, Hien reportedly sent President Tran Dai Quang a letter seeking to 
commute his sentence. He argued that he had no choice but to resort to violence 
as his family was being attacked by a weapon-wielding mob.

The president had not responded as of July 17 but he is legally obligated to 
issue a response within 7 days.

Catholic lawyer Le Cong Dinh said on social media that he expected the 
government would ultimately show leniency in Hien's case. He based this on the 
belief that the harsh judgment was meant to send a warning to others in similar 
situations.

Dinh said the judges even reminded the defendants to seek an amnesty from 
President Quang while the case was ongoing.

"The president will pardon him as a way to win over the public," he said, 
adding any other decision could provoke unrest as the public is frustrated at 
the continuing wave of illegal land grabs.

(source: ucanews.com)

********************

Vietnam busts drug production ring led by French citizen



Vietnamese police have recently detained a French man of Vietnamese origin and 
his accomplice, and seized 1 kg of methamphetamine and 85,000 pills of the 
synthetic drug they produced in Ho Chi Minh City, the municipal police said 
Monday.

Police arrested the 36-year-old French citizen named Didonna Quoc Anh Phillip 
and his 28-year-old local accomplice called Vu An. The duo rented an apartment 
in the city to produce some 20,000 pills of methamphetamine each night.

On Sunday, relevant agencies of central Quang Tri province detained two 
Vietnamese young people aged 17 and 22 when they were transporting 4,234 pills 
of methamphetamine from Laos to Vietnam, the Quang Tri authorities said on 
Monday.

According to statistics from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, 
relevant agencies busted nearly 13,700 drug-related cases, detained roughly 
20,000 suspects, and confiscated over 940 kg of heroin, nearly 800,000 pills of 
synthetic drugs, 1,500 kg of marijuana, and more than 40 kg of opium in the 1st 
half of this year.

According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of 
heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making 
or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces 
death penalty.

(source: xinhuanet.com)








THAILAND::

Court upholds death sentence for 2015 rape and murder of teenager



The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld a primary court ruling sentencing to 
death a 36-year-old former village headman for murdering an 18-year-old 
schoolgirl during a rape attempt in Kalasin's Kamalasai district in 2015.

The ruling also included an order for Ban Si Than former village headman 
Krittidech Rawengwan to pay the family of slain Rong Kham School student 
Ruadeewan "Nong Snow" Polprasit Bt2.39 million in compensation.

The court found Krittidech guilty of killing Ruadeewan while trying to rape 
her.

His claim of innocence was denied as evidence, including a human bite mark 
found on his finger and another wound on a testicle, had been put before the 
court.

Ruadeewan's parents Krit and Lamyai Polprasit and relatives held the slain 
girl's photograph as they gathered outside the Kalasin Provincial Court 
yesterday morning prior to the verdict reading.

Lamyai became tearful and said the tiredness she had felt for over 900 days 
after the loss of her beloved daughter disappeared when she heard the latest 
verdict. She thanked officials involved in the case, along with police and 
media, for following through on the case until justice was served. She also 
thanked the public for their moral support.

The Court of Appeal found Krittidech guilty of killing the girl while trying to 
rape her on December 23, 2015 while she was riding her motorcycle home from 
school.

Krittidech, pursuing her on another motorcycle, kicked the girl's motorcycle to 
the ground and dragged her into a roadside ditch where he attempted to rape 
her. Ruadeewan fought him off but suffered serious injuries that caused her 
death 2 days later.

Krittidech, detained at the Khlong Phai Prison, was not in court but reportedly 
was notified about the latest verdict.

The family is struggling to cope with the loss of Ruadeewan.

"I still feel pain in my heart every time I pass the spot of her attack. 
Whenever I miss her, I look at her pictures on the wall or in her Facebook 
page. I keep dreaming of her and I wake crying," Lamyai said.

If the girl were alive today, she would have been studying at a nurse's college 
as per her dream to become a nurse to help others, the mother said.

The family also lost all of their savings to pay for funeral expenses and the 
lawsuit, and had to mortgage their rice field to keep the family afloat during 
the court battle, Lamyai said.

"Our family will fight until the end so the attacker will get a maximum 
punishment, especially the death sentence, so that this will serve as a 
precautionary tale so it won't happen in Thai society again," she said.

Ruadeewan's 31-year-old sister Pattranit Polprasert said: "Heaven has eyes so 
the innocent person's death won't be in vain and the one who committed a crime 
is punished for his deed."

Neighbour Suthee Arunpas, 50, said he sympathised with the family and wants to 
see capital punishment for the culprit, so no one would follow in his footsteps 
and break the law - especially in rape-murder cases.

According to human-rights group Amnesty International, multiple studies have 
discredited claims that capital punishment deters crime. "There is no evidence 
that the death penalty is any more effective than life imprisonment," according 
to Amnesty, which also notes that many executed people were later found to have 
been innocent.

(source: nationmultimedia.com)